Which wheels?

[Toscana]

I am looking to upgrade my wheels.
Have been looking at 50mm aero Campag and Fulcrum basically the same company but the question is would I be better as a fitness/sportive rider with standard or aero wheels?
I have decided I want ceramic bearings are they a lot better than normal ones?

[Jimbo.]

Toscana said:

I am looking to upgrade my wheels.
Have been looking at 50mm aero Campag and Fulcrum basically the same company but the question is would I be better as a fitness/sportive rider with standard or aero wheels?
I have decided I want ceramic bearings are they a lot better than normal ones?

To the average Joe/"sportive rider" there'll be no difference WRT to the bearings. IMO 50mm rims for said same riding/rider will be borderline pointless, too.

[mcelliott]

If you're doing Sportives or even racing I don't think it makes much difference if you are using aero or non-aero - personal choice. On my race bike I'm currently using Campag Zondas which I've found to be utterly brilliant, but I'm hoping to upgrade these to Campag Neutron - read some really good reviews about them. I also have been using Shimano C24s on my other bike which is a fantastic wheel as well.

[Toscana]

I was going to pull the trigger on Fulcrum racing Zeros but a few people at club said the aeros would be better!

I like the look of traditional wheels and for climbing they would be better?

[Jimbo.]

Toscana said:

I was going to pull the trigger on Fulcrum racing Zeros but a few people at club said the aeros would be better!

I like the look of traditional wheels and for climbing they would be better?

Some say yes (lighter overall, less inertia, less rotational mass)
Some say no (only matters on steep, LONG climbs, aero advantage as low as 15-18mph, stiffer)

[Toscana]

Jimbo. said:

Toscana said:

I was going to pull the trigger on Fulcrum racing Zeros but a few people at club said the aeros would be better!

I like the look of traditional wheels and for climbing they would be better?

Some say yes (lighter overall, less inertia, less rotational mass)
Some say no (only matters on steep, LONG climbs, aero advantage as low as 15-18mph, stiffer)

Looking to increase my average up from 18mph to 20mph on the Etape Caleydonia this year so which wheels would be best?

[Jimbo.]

Toscana said:

Looking to increase my average up from 18mph to 20mph on the Etape Caleydonia this year so which wheels would be best?

Same wheels spun faster for longer by stronger legs 'n' lungs?

[Toscana]

Jimbo. said:

Toscana said:

Looking to increase my average up from 18mph to 20mph on the Etape Caleydonia this year so which wheels would be best?

Same wheels spun faster for longer by stronger legs 'n' lungs?

Cheers for that intuitive bit of advice!

But could the stronger legs and lungs ( Okgo would disagree with the stronger leg thing) be helped by better wheels? And would aero be bette than non?

[BPC7]

When I specced up my S5 I went with Fulcrum redwind 50's. Lovely looking set of wheels that spin up nicely. They do catch the wind a little but then so does the whole bike which was a bit un nerving in the beginning. I didnt like the Mavic Cosmics as the carbon aero section is just added on to a standard ali rim and felt a bit cheap (no offense to the thousands of people that own them) where the Fulcrum aero section is actually part of the wheel.

[anonymous-user]

Toscana said:

Jimbo. said:

Toscana said:

I was going to pull the trigger on Fulcrum racing Zeros but a few people at club said the aeros would be better!

I like the look of traditional wheels and for climbing they would be better?

Some say yes (lighter overall, less inertia, less rotational mass)
Some say no (only matters on steep, LONG climbs, aero advantage as low as 15-18mph, stiffer)

Looking to increase my average up from 18mph to 20mph on the Etape Caleydonia this year so which wheels would be best?

Finding 2mph average over 100 odd miles isnt much and pushing harder on the flat and the descents will be far easier than the climbs so i'd look for the 50mm carbons if that also suits you regular riding. You can build up Gigantex 50mm carbon clinchers on nice hubs and come in almost 1/2 lbs lighter than the Red Wind 50s so weight need not be the deciding factor.

A lot of rim manufacturers are now buliding wider rims to match the tyre width, so instead of a 19mm rim and a 23mm tyre and the accompanying bulge, you have a 23mm rim, a 23mm tyre and the tyre/rim work together to form a sort of aero profile on shallow depth rims. Well I think tahts the theory......

Anyway, have a look at the zipp website and the 101 clincher in particular. I think the Hed Ardennes emplys the same theory.

[okgo]

As some have said, think for the purpose either deep or shallow would be fine, buy as light as you can afford in either deep or shallow, but as said, usually in the UK deeper rims will be faster overall. But they are more expensive etc.

[DrMekon]

Toscana said:

Looking to increase my average up from 18mph to 20mph on the Etape Caleydonia this year so which wheels would be best?

The best wheels for this would be the ones on the fast group that you tuck in behind and wheelsuck like a bandit all the way around.

HTH.

[okgo]

DrMekon said:

The best wheels for this would be the ones on the fast group that you tuck in behind and wheelsuck like a bandit all the way around.

HTH.

Its a sportive, not a race. What would be the benefit in doing that?

[Toscana]

pablo said:

Finding 2mph average over 100 odd miles isnt much and pushing harder on the flat and the descents will be far easier than the climbs so i'd look for the 50mm carbons if that also suits you regular riding. You can build up Gigantex 50mm carbon clinchers on nice hubs and come in almost 1/2 lbs lighter than the Red Wind 50s so weight need not be the deciding factor.

A lot of rim manufacturers are now buliding wider rims to match the tyre width, so instead of a 19mm rim and a 23mm tyre and the accompanying bulge, you have a 23mm rim, a 23mm tyre and the tyre/rim work together to form a sort of aero profile on shallow depth rims. Well I think tahts the theory......

Anyway, have a look at the zipp website and the 101 clincher in particular. I think the Hed Ardennes emplys the same theory.

"finding 2mph average over 100 miles isn't much".

[yellowjack]

Getting back to the original question, I'm in the market for a new set of wheels too. Up to now, I've promised myself that I'd take my own advice, and go 'handbuilt bespoke'.

BUT.

Just seen these reviewed in Cycling Plus magazine (£4.50 - WTF?) and am now considering them.


Weight : 1652g (per pair)

http://www.acycles.fr/media/produits/img/Paire_de_...
http://www.acycles.co.uk/shimano-ultegra-6700-tube... (Wheelset @£243 - available seperately as F/R on Wiggle for total £278)

They review OK, winning the budget wheels test in the magazine, and are well under my budget, and they would match the full Ultegra Groupset on the bike. Thoughts/advice anyone. Current wheels are the original AlexRims Aero-Road 32mm ones, as fitted from new, built onto Ultegra hubs, so it may not be THAT much of an upgrade?

Anyone heard of/bought from this French mob? Or should I stick with Evans/Wiggle/CRC/etc?? Or even take my own advice and go for handbuilt wheels and spend closer to my original £450/£500 budget to end up with something 'better'???

[Rouleur]

I've been running Ultegras on one of my bikes for 18 months now and I'm very impressed by them, they're stiff, strong and very smooth rolling.

If you're considering spending a bit more on factory wheels then have a look at RS80s, and try Merlin as they're very good on price.


Finding an extra 2mph average is pretty tough, and I doubt whether a change of wheels will add much. Complete this old saying - Don't buy upgrades...

[dontdobends]

okgo said:

DrMekon said:

The best wheels for this would be the ones on the fast group that you tuck in behind and wheelsuck like a bandit all the way around.

HTH.

Its a sportive, not a race. What would be the benefit in doing that?

He's jesting matey :-)
Most people who do sportives think its a race

[dontdobends]

Rouleur said:

I've been running Ultegras on one of my bikes for 18 months now and I'm very impressed by them, they're stiff, strong and very smooth rolling.

If you're considering spending a bit more on factory wheels then have a look at RS80s, and try Merlin as they're very good on price.


Finding an extra 2mph average is pretty tough, and I doubt whether a change of wheels will add much. Complete this old saying - Don't buy upgrades...

Spot on.

[RGambo]

If you are averaging 18mph over a hilly 100miles , I would have thought that you are at a decent level of fitness and any wheels whilst could improve you times will operate on the law of deminishing returns. I have both durace c24's which are a really nice wheel and c50's which are also really good. If the course is mostly hills I'd stick with the non aero rims, if you have long sections of rolling terrain with the odd short hills, I'd probably stick to the aero wheels. But I don't think that improving you wheels (unless you have very poor wheels currently) will get you your extra 2mph on their own.

[okgo]

dontdobends said:

He's jesting matey :-)
Most people who do sportives think its a race

Yes, and it grates me every time I read it.